ST. PETERSBURG MUSSORGSKY STATE ACADEMIC
OPERA AND BALLET THEATRE

Mussorgsky (Maly) opera and ballet theatre

St. Petersburg's second largest musical stage, whose repertoire includes world classics of opera and ballet. Among the works in the programme are Borodin's "Prince Igor", Verdi's "La Traviata" and "Requiem", Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", Bizet's "Carmen".

The
first performance on the stage of the Emperor the Musorgsky
Theatre, just built by the architect A.Brullov.
The brilliantly suitable to the architectural ensemble of Michailovskaya
square building became the third Emperor stage in Saint Petersburg.
But differently from its neighbors - the Mariinsky and Alexandrovsky
theatres - this stage did not have its own troupe and definite
repertoire and genre tendency. Firstly the theatre building
was mainly used as a concert hall. But, to tell the truth, there
were opera performances among drama performances and musical
comedies performed by the troupe of the Alexandrinsky theatre
or coming French and German actors. There were they who noted
the necessity of enlarging the sizes of stage and hall. Followed
in 1859 rebuilding made the inner shapes of the theatre similar
to the requirements for scale opera and ballet performances.
until that moment when musical performances were constant at
Mikhailovsky stage, it was long time. The French drama troupe
and the German competitor. Seldom opera performances at Mikhailovsky
stage were organized mainly with the help of the Emperor Russian
opera (the Mariinsky theatre). In connection with the repairing
of Mariinka in 1894 opera performances became often, the tradition
of every Sunday opera performances was set up, but later it
disappeared.But
The Great October Revolution changed the fortune of the theatre
a lot. After the French troupe leaving the Mikhailovsky stage,
the problem of forming the own theatre troupe. Under the initiative
of A.V.Lunacharsky the theatre was to be the second opera theatre
in Petrograd. "Born by revolution"-this title was
the characteristics of a new opera troupe for a long time which
really became forming in 4 months after the establishment of
the Soviet power.
The second birthday of the Mikhailovsky theatre is on 6 March
1918, and also of his opera troupe. That day the theatre opened
its doors again, "The Sevilla Barber" was presented
to the spectators. But the birthday can be called so very conditionally:The
Mariinsky Theatre troupe continued its performances on the stage
of Michailovsky theater (but now the stage was state, not Emperor).
It's own orchestra. Chorus and mimance will appear only in he
next season, but the soloists (up to early 30's) will be from
the Mariinsky theatre. But
a new theatre was born. What happened in nearest years was great.
A young theatre gained its own image, its aesthetic credo very
soon. The concentration on entertaining and comical material
was reflected in a new title that was gained by the theatre
in 1920. The state Academic theatre of comical opera. But the
title was changed again very soon; since 1921 the theatre got
the name of Maly Academic Theatre, and since 1926 - Leningrad
Academic Maly Opera Theatre (Malegot for short).
Malegot did not follow any genre restrictions in its repertoire
and staged both classical opera heritage and light operetta
or experimental modern compositions. By the mid 20's, during
new economic politics operetta started to prevail at stage.
The second half of 20's was marked by "modernism":
turn to stict experimental samples of new opera art (opera of
E.Kshenek, E.Dressel, D.Shostakovich) - a phase afterwards estimated
by critics as "the furthest point of turning from realistic
trend"), and now understood as one of the brightest pages
of Malegot's history, fully reflected all searches of "gold"
20's.
In 30's while setting up the concept of socialistic realism
in Soviet art the development of the theatre started its new
period and for many years it became the laboratory of Soviet
opera. All mistakes and achievement the theatre had with its
epoch, it's rising and reflected the line of social and art
life quite exactly. The masterpieces that are famous now but
some time ago caused a lot of arguments and different opinions
such as Shostacovich's "Nose" and "Lady Macbeth
of Mzensk uyezd" and Prokofiev's "War and Piece"
are obliged to Malegot by its staging birth. Godunov"
S.Gaudasinsky, directed the theatre since 1981,could restore
the traditions of "the theatre a singer and actor",
which Malegot was famous for in the period of its coming-to-be.
The everyday rehearsal work was directed by a producer to working
out vocal speech by actors.
The chorus was completely changed from undifferencial people
into the mobile multifaced company of actors. The stage of the
theatre became a real school of actor art for soloists.
The repertoire politics of the theatre was also changed. The
main strategic task was to revive the opera theatre of Russian
classics at the stage of Maly theatre. One by one the opera
masterpieces of Russian composer came back into the repertoire:
Musorgsky's "Boris
and "Khovanshina", Chaikovsky's "Eugeny Onegin"
and "Queen of Spades", Rimsky-Korsakov's "Golden
Cockerel" and "A tale about Tsar Saltan", Borodin's
"Grand Duke Igor". Russian opera became an aesthetic
credo of the theatre. The range of the task made the theatre
to change its name once again because the title "Maly"
was not suitable for the theatre stage ideas any more. Since
1989 Malegot became Saint-Petersburg Academic Mussorgsky Opera
and Ballet Theatre. The name of Musorgsky was not accidental.
The staging of "Boris Godunov" was the greatest and
the most important success of the theatre, promoting the renewing
of Russian repertoire.
At the same time together with Russian classics the European
opera including its modern samples (M.Landovky's "Madman"
and K.Michem's "Tartuf") and even operetta continue
living at opera stage (one of the last works of I.Strausss -
"The Bat" - is a light sample of creative diapason
of the troupe). Even the most popular opera compositions, such
as Verdi's "Traviata" get here new sounding and freshness.